August 2007 Events in the GRMC

What's Happening in the GRMC? August 2007 Edition

August is the time for back-to-school at Ball State University, and classes have already begun visiting the Geospatial Resources & Map Collection for instructional sessions and various research projects.

Elizabeth Nesbitt, an instructor for the Writing Program in the Department of English, brought three sections of her English 102 and 104 classes into the GRMC for customized instructional sessions during the month of August. Students were given an assignment using maps for rhetorical analysis. Students viewed maps of the same place from two different perspectives and maps created from an unusual point of view. Students learned about the visual information provided by how maps are created and how various topics are represented on maps. Students then chose five maps of different topics and learned how to cite the maps and atlases.

Students in Marketing & Management 300 also learned about the resources of the GRMC in their classroom. Digital national base and census data and GIS applications were presented to enhance a class project in coordination with Vera Bradley Retail Stores, Inc. Students in Natural Resources & Environmental Management also learned about GIS resources available in the University Libraries.

Geography and Political Science students will be using maps from the GRMC in their classroom for special research projects throughout the fall semester. Many other students have already begun using the GRMC for their research and learning. Students from anthropology, geology, social studies, and the College of Architecture & Planning visited the GRMC during the month of August. Even an instructor for a cooking seminar used maps from the GRMC for an upcoming lesson.

The Geospatial Resources & Map Collection is a great destination for research and learning. Contact the staff for more information about customized instructional sessions in the GRMC.